When he was a 22-year-old newlywed hired to be a rabbi at Oxford University, Shmuley Boteach was as surprised as anyone by his unintended vocation: love guru.

Students caught up in superficial and unfulfilling relationships eagerly turned to the young rabbi for his insights on dating through his writings on the weekly Torah reading, he says.

That led to a two-season family-centered TLC show, “Shalom in the Home,” and a regular spot on the Oprah and Friends radio network (he was also, reportedly, an unofficial spiritual advisor to Michael Jackson before the two had a falling out).

Kosher Lust: Love Is Not the Answer

Of the 30 books the 47-year-old Orthodox married rabbi and father of nine went on to write — half of which focus on sex and relationships, including best sellers “Kosher Sex” and “The Kosher Sutra” — his most radical treatise yet may be “Kosher Lust,” which was released Thursday.

The premise is simple but bold: Boteach rejects the conventional wisdom that love is the key ingredient to a happy, satisfying marriage and places lust front and center.

And not just any kind of lust — Bible-driven lust.

“All the famous marriages of the Bible are lust relationships, not love relationships,” he says. “Just look at our patriarchs. Jacob waits seven years for Rachel and for him it feels like a few days. The first thing Rebecca does when she meets Isaac is veil her face.”

According to the rabbi, American marriages are facing a serious crisis nowadays.

“The primary concern — especially from women — is that their sex lives are atrophying. There’s no intimacy in marriage,” Boteach warns.

But sex-starved couples need not lose hope, and even straying couples can find their way back to one another: “The reason why women leave bad marriages is because they don’t feel desired,” he adds. “Even in affairs, men don’t love the other woman — they lust after her. If you put love and lust together, love stands no chance.”

Sure, lust has historically gotten a bad rap — long considered dirty, forbidden and sleazy — but Boteach makes the case for its comeback to save marriages that are disintegrating from nonexistent desire.

And though the Englewood, NJ-based sexpert dispenses his relationship advice through the prism of Jewish wisdom, he believes that the messages and tenets are universal: “Lust is the pinnacle of holiness.”

But what is a lust relationship, exactly?

In a lust-centered relationship, a woman can still hold mystery; there’s still something left to discover — i.e., Sarah, after decades of marriage, is still desired by Abraham because she always kept a calculated distance, facilitating an air of mystery about herself.

Boteach advises not to fall into everyday traps that dilute your relationship’s core of passion, like walking around your bedroom naked — while your hubby is likely glued to the TV and paying no attention to you — or leaving the door open while you go to the bathroom. “Obstacles create greater desire,” he says. Strive to make your spouse feel selected (dare we say, chosen) so he or she feels like the first and only in your life.

And make sure there’s total trust and commitment between both partners to pave the way for the necessary eroticism that can ensure an electrifying — and, yes, holy — relationship.

Considering the word “sex” appears in the book 428 times, it was a long road before this bearded Orthodox man who lives an austere religious life could convince skeptics he understands their plight.

“I had to tell them not all Orthodox Jews have sex through a hole in a sheet!”